As integrated circuit fabrication technology improves, semiconductor manufacturers are able to integrate additional functionality onto a single silicon substrate. As the number of these functionalities increases, however, so does the number of components on a single chip. Additional components may increase signal switching, in turn, generating more heat. The additional heat may damage various components of a chip. For example, memory devices that utilize p-channel metal-oxide semiconductor (P-MOS) transistors may be affected by the additional heat when the transistors are negatively biased over time, e.g., due to negative bias temperature instability (NBTI). Oxide degradation may also damage the transistors over time.
As memory devices degrade, their read or write stability may suffer, for example, due to shift in their gate threshold voltage. Designs may include margins to reduce the impact by such degradations, but the additional design margins may reduce performance and/or increase the requisite area to provide memory devices.
An effect of voltage drop-down may occur if the regulator or battery powering the said memory device is more resistive. This may reduce the voltage for short period of time when a peak of current occurs due to the simultaneous switching outputs of the memory controller and its associated memory controller. The peak of current may lead to a value of the voltage applied to the memory which is slightly lower than the allowed lower limit of the normal operating conditions of the memory device, for sure for a limited period of time. The more resistive the power supply (aging effect), the more the effect.